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The Skipper and the Skipped: Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul

by Holman Day (1865–1935)

  • Free to read
  • 8 hours to read
  • 33 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"The Skipper and the Skipped: Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul" by Holman Day is a novel written in the early 20th century. This story revolves around Cap'n Aaron Sproul, a seasoned mariner who, after resigning from his position due to health issues, takes a job managing a toll bridge. As he adjusts to his new life on land, he becomes embroiled in the local community's dramas, particularly those involving his domineering brother-in-law, Colonel Gideon Ward. At the start of the tale, Cap'n Sproul reflects on his transition from the sea to the toll-house, where he cares for his ailing uncle, One-arm Jerry. The dialogue between the two reveals Cap'n Sproul's strong, brusque character and his reluctance to embrace his land-based role. As Sproul takes up the duties of tollkeeper, he soon encounters Colonel Ward, who has a complex relationship with his sister, Jane. The opening sets the stage for comedic and dramatic interactions that showcase the Cap'n's seafaring spirit clashing with the pettiness of local affairs, hinting at the conflicts and growth to come as he navigates his new world.

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  • Ship captains

Read the opening

Chapter I

Cap'n Aaron Sproul, late skipper of the Jefferson P. Benn, sat by the bedside of his uncle, "One-arm" Jerry, and gazed into the latter's dimming eyes.

"It ain't bein' a crowned head, but it's honer'ble," pleaded the sick man, continuing the conversation.

His eager gaze found only gloominess in his nephew's countenance.

"One way you look at it, Uncle Jed," said the Cap'n, "it's a come-down swifter'n a slide from the foretop the whole length of the boomstay. I've been master since I was twenty-four, and I'm goin' onto fifty-six now. I've licked every kind in the sailorman line, from a nigger up to Six-fingered Jack the Portugee. If it wa'n't for—ow, Josephus Henry!—for this rheumatiz, I'd be aboard the Benn this minute with a marlinespike in my hand, and op'nin' a fresh package of language."

"But you ain't fit for the sea no longer," mumbled One-arm Jerry through one corner of the mouth that paralysis had drawn awry.

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Contents

Show all 33 chapters
  1. Chapter I
  2. Chapter II
  3. Chapter III
  4. Chapter IV
  5. Chapter V
  6. Chapter VI
  7. Chapter VII
  8. Chapter VIII
  9. Chapter IX
  10. Chapter X
  11. Chapter XI
  12. Chapter XII
  13. Chapter XIII
  14. Chapter XIV
  15. Chapter XV
  16. Chapter XVI
  17. Chapter XVII
  18. Chapter XVIII
  19. Chapter XIX
  20. Chapter XX
  21. Chapter XXI
  22. Chapter XXII
  23. Chapter XXIII
  24. Chapter XXIV
  25. Chapter XXV
  26. Chapter XXVI
  27. Chapter XXVII
  28. Chapter XXVIII
  29. Chapter XXIX
  30. Chapter XXX
  31. Chapter XXXI
  32. Chapter XXXII
  33. Chapter XXXIII

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About this edition

This free edition of The Skipper and the Skipped: Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul by Holman Day comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #16631, released 2005-09-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Humour, Novels, American Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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